Tramp Royale

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Period Piece
Review: A very enjoyable book. Its setting in 1953-4, rather than dating the book, makes it an interesting time capsule, particularly if you have visited or lived in any of the places Heinlein writes about. He also notes features which were later to hold global attention, for example his remarks on Apartheid decades before it became chic to self righteously condemn it. RAH's contempt for that system is real and reads much more sincerely than the shallow posturings of many of today's "cause of the week" celebrities. His insights are penetrating and I wonder if one reason for the book not being published is his agent and publisher's concern about such a frank "warts and all" appraisal of the countries he visits. His prognosis for our future is bleak in view of the rampant poverty and overpopulation he observed in Asia. However, we are now living in that future and while the problems remain, they have been much less catastrophic than they looked fifty years ago. Perhaps there is hope... In every case his gimlet eye is refreshing, even when his crystal ball is cloudy. To his credit, Heinlein states up front that he is not qualified to make the judgements he makes, but he is unsparing in his observations and commentary. When his expectations and prejudices are challenged, he is honest enough to admit it and attempt to understand why. All in all, a fascinating view of how the world looked a half century ago. Have we done better, or worse, than an observer from RAH's perspective had a right to expect?

Rating:
Summary: A travelogue written by a non-travelogue writer
Review: I read this book thinking that I liked the travelogue of Mark Twain and that I like Robert Heinlein. Perhaps Heinlein himself was thinking of Twain when he wrote it. Unfortunately, he is not Mark Twain.

When Twain wrote, he talked of even a simple thing, like going through customs, and made it humorous. When Heinlein writes about going through customs, he is merely telling you how annoying it is in different places. He talks about how different countries should make customs easier for travelers or else the country could lose money. This kind of goes without saying. I would hope that Robert would tell us a bit more on his interpretation. I really don't need his opinion of economics.

This book feels more like a collection of musings rather than a well thought out book. Some of the incidents sound like they could be interesting or witty, but Heinlein just touches on it and continues on. The only thing I really found amusing was his persistence in looking around the seedier places of each town.

If you are not a fan of Heinlein, and then I would, emphatically, not recommend this book. If you are a fan, then I would recommend it just to say you have read it. It is a dated book and does not make a lot of sense today. Read it just to see what his reaction to the world is.

Rating:
Summary: A travelogue written by a non-travelogue writer
Review: I read this book thinking that I liked the travelogue of Mark Twain and that I like Robert Heinlein. Perhaps Heinlein himself was thinking of Twain when he wrote it. Unfortunately, he is not Mark Twain.

When Twain wrote, he talked of even a simple thing, like going through customs, and made it humorous. When Heinlein writes about going through customs, he is merely telling you how annoying it is in different places. He talks about how different countries should make customs easier for travelers or else the country could lose money. This kind of goes without saying. I would hope that Robert would tell us a bit more on his interpretation. I really don't need his opinion of economics.

This book feels more like a collection of musings rather than a well thought out book. Some of the incidents sound like they could be interesting or witty, but Heinlein just touches on it and continues on. The only thing I really found amusing was his persistence in looking around the seedier places of each town.

If you are not a fan of Heinlein, and then I would, emphatically, not recommend this book. If you are a fan, then I would recommend it just to say you have read it. It is a dated book and does not make a lot of sense today. Read it just to see what his reaction to the world is.

Rating:
Summary: Dated but a good window to the past and abroad
Review: This account of the trip taken across the Southern Hemisphere by Robert Heinlein and his wife was fascinating for me, although dated in its observations (it was written in 1954 afterall). He enjoys Chilean and Uruguayan hospitality, compares the Peron regime of Argentina to the Pendergast machine of Missouri, and admires Brazilian style capitalism. He travels on to South Africa, where he's appalled by apartheid, and encounters great hospitality and a entrepreneurial spirit he admires in Singapore. The squalor of Indonesia horrifies him, but he admires Australia's egalitarianism, while at the same time criticizing its "trade unionism gone wild". His most scathing criticism was for New Zealand, which he dubbed the "dreary utopia". Heinlein often mixed a dose of politics and social commentary in his works. This is no different. This book is a great read for Heinlein fans or those with politics somewhat right of center. Non-Americans or fairly liberal Americans will probably be put off by his constant statements on traveling abroad, foreign policy, international relations etc.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, and more than just a travelogue
Review: This is not, of course, a book that a reader new to Heinlein should pick up, but it is an absolute must-read for hard-core fans of RAH. Heinlein describes his experiences in a trip that began in the whorehouses (which he unflinchingly brought his wife into) of New Orleans to the tropical paradise of Hawaii, while hitting such interesting spots as the extremely isloated Trista da Cunha, Java, the contrasting "utopias" of Uraguay and New Zealand and others in-between. I found Heinlein's observations to be dead-honest, always interesting, and frequently enlightening. Of course, being Heinlein, he could not just stick a bunch of lifeless travel essays on paper and call it a book. Instead, you also get (throughout the course of the book) his views on politics, foreign policy, travel expenses and red tape, and lots more. He also gives many travel tips (some inevitably dated) to those who are interested. But perhaps the most interesting thing about the book to Heinlein fans is the inside glimpse you get of his private life. Much is shown about his relationship with his wife Virginia (who, for reasons never stated, he refers to as "Ticky") and you get to see the way he operated in a given situation. Of course, a casual science fiction fan could care less about this, but to the veteran of RAH's fiction (the target audience of this book) it is a treasure trove of Heinleinia.

Rating:
Summary: For Robert Heinlein Fans
Review: This out-of-date travelogue, written in the 1950's by one of the most decorated science fiction writers and published posthumously, was clearly published for the ready market of Robert Heinlein fans thirsty for anything written by the Grand Master.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and all Heinlein fans will too. His wit, pragmatism, and personality shine throughout the book-even when covering the more mundane subjects such as the quality of hotels to the red tape involved in traveling. I especially enjoyed getting a glimpse of his wife's personality as well. They make for some of the more humorous vignettes in this work.

The last chapter is probably the best where Heinlein takes off his gloves, so to speak, and allows himself to become a political pundit and talks about what he learned on his trip. This, for me, was the most interesting part of the book. Nothing there will surprise Heinlein's fans gleaning his political/social viewpoint in his novels, but it was fascinating nonetheless.

This book frankly is not for a general audience. I can't imagine that anyone not a fan of and familiar with Heinlein's works would find this book particularly interesting.

It's a must read for Heinlein fans. But of course, everything he wrote is a must read for his fans.

Rating:
Summary: Heinlein the man -- You can finally meet him.
Review: You've read all his fiction, and you've played with the ideas. You like some and you don't like others, but they're all worth thinking about. You'd really like to get to know him better - the real man, not the political writer you can read in Expanded Universe.

Wouldn't it be nice if he had taken a year out of his life to wander around, look at the world, and write down what he saw and what he thought about it? Wouldn't it be fun to follow him around the world?

He did. You can.

This is, simply put, the best collection of Heinlein's thought you'll find. No, he didn't go to Russia on this trip, but his views on Latin America, South Africa and the South Seas are fascinating. Along the way he discusses bureaucracy, politics, freedom, politeness, and nature.

And no other writer could write a straightforward description of taking his wife into an establishment that turned out to be a whorehouse, without a trace of embarrassment, prudishness, or lewdness.

Most of his travel tips are dated, of course. On the other hand, if you ever travel through the Panama Canal, TAKE HIS ADVICE. Elsewhere, he describes a delightful and elegant way to frustrate a compulsive check-grabber. He also explains, in simple, straightforward fashion, what makes people eager to help some people when they are sullen with others.

But you're not reading it for travel advice. You're reading it to travel with Heinlein. Read a contemporary account of McCarthy's committee, or a 50s condemnation of apartheid. (Heinlein, never a coward, tried to convince South African whites that this system wasn't going to work.)

Heinlein's ready to take you around the world. Have a nice trip.